Renewal in Zoho Billing is the event that occurs at the end of each billing cycle when the subscription continues for another period. For auto-renewal subscriptions (the default), Zoho Billing automatically generates a new invoice, charges the customer’s payment method, and extends the subscription for another cycle. For manual renewal subscriptions, a notification is sent asking the customer or admin to take action before the period expires.
On the renewal date, Zoho Billing checks whether the subscription is set to renew and whether the payment method on file is valid. If everything is in order, the invoice is generated and the charge is processed automatically. The customer receives an invoice notification, and the subscription’s next renewal date advances by one billing interval. This process repeats indefinitely until the subscription is cancelled or paused.
Zoho Billing can send automated renewal reminder emails to customers before each renewal date. This is particularly important for annual subscriptions, where customers may not be tracking their next billing date. A renewal reminder 30 days and 7 days before the anniversary gives customers time to review their subscription, update payment details if needed, or request changes before the renewal is processed.
Yes. Zoho Billing allows you to schedule a plan change to take effect at the next renewal date. The current plan remains active until renewal, and the new plan takes over from that date forward. This is the recommended approach for downgrades and for customers who want to switch plans without mid-cycle proration.
If the renewal payment fails, Zoho Billing activates the dunning process for that subscription. The system retries the payment according to the configured dunning profile, sends failure notifications to the customer, and may suspend access after a set number of failed retries. If all dunning attempts fail, the subscription can be automatically cancelled or moved to a past-due state, depending on your dunning end-action settings.
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